@thesouloftheearth.bsky.social
I'm Betsey Crawford, wildflower & nature photographer. I post photos and write about ecology, nature, spirit, wildness, and beauty at https://thesouloftheearth.com
Happy #EarthDay to all the radiant beings on this amazing planet.
#wildflowers #butterflies #naturephotography 🌿
#wildflowers #butterflies #naturephotography 🌿
April 22, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Happy #EarthDay to all the radiant beings on this amazing planet.
#wildflowers #butterflies #naturephotography 🌿
#wildflowers #butterflies #naturephotography 🌿
Jumping in to the last of #Butterflyweek with one of my favorite shots: eye to eye with a field crescent (I think!) taken in gorgeous #WatertonLakesNationalPark in Alberta.
#insects #naturephotography 🌿
#insects #naturephotography 🌿
April 19, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Jumping in to the last of #Butterflyweek with one of my favorite shots: eye to eye with a field crescent (I think!) taken in gorgeous #WatertonLakesNationalPark in Alberta.
#insects #naturephotography 🌿
#insects #naturephotography 🌿
Reposted
A new one for me: a luminous Mojave aster blooming in this year's super bloom in Death Valley in California. Love that even in the hottest and driest places on Earth life and beauty show up regularly.
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
April 18, 2026 at 4:48 PM
A new one for me: a luminous Mojave aster blooming in this year's super bloom in Death Valley in California. Love that even in the hottest and driest places on Earth life and beauty show up regularly.
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
A new one for me: a luminous Mojave aster blooming in this year's super bloom in Death Valley in California. Love that even in the hottest and driest places on Earth life and beauty show up regularly.
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
April 18, 2026 at 4:48 PM
A new one for me: a luminous Mojave aster blooming in this year's super bloom in Death Valley in California. Love that even in the hottest and driest places on Earth life and beauty show up regularly.
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
#wildflowers #naturephotography 🌿
In spite of *gestures wildly in all directions* I've had wonderful adventures lately, like finding this gorgeous San Joaquin blazing star blooming on a small mountain next to a road I hadn't meant to be on. It was gorgeous and exciting if a little nerve wracking.
#wildflowers #naturephotography
#wildflowers #naturephotography
April 17, 2026 at 7:05 PM
In spite of *gestures wildly in all directions* I've had wonderful adventures lately, like finding this gorgeous San Joaquin blazing star blooming on a small mountain next to a road I hadn't meant to be on. It was gorgeous and exciting if a little nerve wracking.
#wildflowers #naturephotography
#wildflowers #naturephotography
The Easter stories have lasted because we need to hear that life is continual rebirth. Death is overcome by the energy we bring to living our lives. With every rebirth, we can choose other paths, tell other stories. Connect more deeply to the beings we are blessed to walk among.
shorturl.at/BlmDI
shorturl.at/BlmDI
Easter: we have always needed this story
The Easter stories say something we need to hear: life is continual rebirth. Light dawns after darkness. Death is overcome by the energy we bring to our lives.
shorturl.at
April 5, 2026 at 8:44 PM
The Easter stories have lasted because we need to hear that life is continual rebirth. Death is overcome by the energy we bring to living our lives. With every rebirth, we can choose other paths, tell other stories. Connect more deeply to the beings we are blessed to walk among.
shorturl.at/BlmDI
shorturl.at/BlmDI
This is so beautifully said by @globalecoguy.bsky.social. I will never understand the insane disregard for our gorgeous, precious planet. What a monumental difference it would make if we chose to organize our lives around stewardship and a green prosperity for everything and everyone. 🌿
This planet — with all its troubles — is worth caring for.
That should be our single purpose, as a species: To be stewards of this magnificent world, ensuring it thrives long into the future.
That should be our single purpose, as a species: To be stewards of this magnificent world, ensuring it thrives long into the future.
April 4, 2026 at 6:56 PM
This is so beautifully said by @globalecoguy.bsky.social. I will never understand the insane disregard for our gorgeous, precious planet. What a monumental difference it would make if we chose to organize our lives around stewardship and a green prosperity for everything and everyone. 🌿
Wonderful videos of #birds building a nest and fledglings at a bird bath. When I said as much in a comment @iand777.bsky.social added another of an owl taking a shower (in the comments.) Happy way to start a day. 🌿
2/3 Once the outer shell is finished they line the nest with a 1000+ feathers. Imagine the time & effort that task takes.
See how many feathers you spot next time you're out for a long walk - 10/20 if you keep your eyes peeled.
The birds will come again & again for the right type of downy feather.
See how many feathers you spot next time you're out for a long walk - 10/20 if you keep your eyes peeled.
The birds will come again & again for the right type of downy feather.
April 1, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Wonderful videos of #birds building a nest and fledglings at a bird bath. When I said as much in a comment @iand777.bsky.social added another of an owl taking a shower (in the comments.) Happy way to start a day. 🌿
We take down forests because we've always taken them down. Every bag, box, paper towel, and ream of printing paper could be made of hemp or bamboo. Decks and fences recycled plastic 'boards'. Tree plantations can give us furniture and housing. Where's our imagination? 🌿
#InternationalDayOfForests
#InternationalDayOfForests
Protect Forests is an emergency brake climate solution. Currently, forest protection prevents around 2 billion tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year. If we scaled up, we could DOUBLE that.
Protect more, gain more. 🌳
#InternationalDayOfForests
Protect more, gain more. 🌳
#InternationalDayOfForests
March 21, 2026 at 11:04 PM
We take down forests because we've always taken them down. Every bag, box, paper towel, and ream of printing paper could be made of hemp or bamboo. Decks and fences recycled plastic 'boards'. Tree plantations can give us furniture and housing. Where's our imagination? 🌿
#InternationalDayOfForests
#InternationalDayOfForests
For #WorldSparrowDay, Drew Lanham
Joy is the last song,
drifting in
as dark curtains fall;
the sparrow’s vesper offering...
in pine-templed woods,
requiem in me-minor—
church in a cathedral time built.
No stained glass.
No pulpit.
Altars everywhere.
Just listen.
Just look.
#birds #poetry #nature 🌿
Joy is the last song,
drifting in
as dark curtains fall;
the sparrow’s vesper offering...
in pine-templed woods,
requiem in me-minor—
church in a cathedral time built.
No stained glass.
No pulpit.
Altars everywhere.
Just listen.
Just look.
#birds #poetry #nature 🌿
March 20, 2026 at 3:36 PM
For #WorldSparrowDay, Drew Lanham
Joy is the last song,
drifting in
as dark curtains fall;
the sparrow’s vesper offering...
in pine-templed woods,
requiem in me-minor—
church in a cathedral time built.
No stained glass.
No pulpit.
Altars everywhere.
Just listen.
Just look.
#birds #poetry #nature 🌿
Joy is the last song,
drifting in
as dark curtains fall;
the sparrow’s vesper offering...
in pine-templed woods,
requiem in me-minor—
church in a cathedral time built.
No stained glass.
No pulpit.
Altars everywhere.
Just listen.
Just look.
#birds #poetry #nature 🌿
Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) is having a moment in the Anza Borrego #desert in southern #California.
#wildflowers #flowerphotography #nature 🌿
#wildflowers #flowerphotography #nature 🌿
March 13, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) is having a moment in the Anza Borrego #desert in southern #California.
#wildflowers #flowerphotography #nature 🌿
#wildflowers #flowerphotography #nature 🌿
A great idea! I hope it includes plants animals rely on. Plants are the leading edge of biodiversity loss. You can't save pandas without saving the bamboo forest. But we are far less attuned to plants than to animals, so they don't make good mascots. Let's have mascots bring attention to plants. 🌿
Lions, tigers, wolves, and many more wild animals represent 727 professional sports teams globally, yet these same species face unprecedented threats.
A new initiative, The Wild League, aims to turn these iconic mascots into champions for conservation.
Story by Liz Kimbrough for #Mongabay.
A new initiative, The Wild League, aims to turn these iconic mascots into champions for conservation.
Story by Liz Kimbrough for #Mongabay.
The Wild League aims to turn sports mascots into conservation champions
Lions, tigers and bears aren’t just among the world’s most iconic wildlife. They’re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across…
mongabay.cc
March 12, 2026 at 4:11 PM
A great idea! I hope it includes plants animals rely on. Plants are the leading edge of biodiversity loss. You can't save pandas without saving the bamboo forest. But we are far less attuned to plants than to animals, so they don't make good mascots. Let's have mascots bring attention to plants. 🌿
I'm in the desert, thinking of the patient, enduring wisdom of ancient rocks as they both create a planet and slowly metamorphose into plants. This is in the Valley of the Gods in southern Utah, one of the great places to be with rocks as they carry Earth's history.
#StunDay #landscapephotograpy 🌿
#StunDay #landscapephotograpy 🌿
March 8, 2026 at 6:31 PM
I'm in the desert, thinking of the patient, enduring wisdom of ancient rocks as they both create a planet and slowly metamorphose into plants. This is in the Valley of the Gods in southern Utah, one of the great places to be with rocks as they carry Earth's history.
#StunDay #landscapephotograpy 🌿
#StunDay #landscapephotograpy 🌿
It’s many (many!) decades ago now, but I still remember being 7-ish and finding and being transfixed by my first Jack-in-the-pulpit in a remnant woods behind my suburban home. @hellabarnes.bsky.social ‘s description of “charismatic and strange” is perfect. Fascinating plants!I love them still. 🌿
Arisaema triphyllum | jack in the pulpit 🌿
A charismatic and strange little flower to find in a springtime swamp.
In a few days the colors will darken to be more like the second picture, which is an Arisaema pusillum (small JITP) I saw last year
related to peace lilies and monsteras, Araceae
A charismatic and strange little flower to find in a springtime swamp.
In a few days the colors will darken to be more like the second picture, which is an Arisaema pusillum (small JITP) I saw last year
related to peace lilies and monsteras, Araceae
March 7, 2026 at 2:51 PM
It’s many (many!) decades ago now, but I still remember being 7-ish and finding and being transfixed by my first Jack-in-the-pulpit in a remnant woods behind my suburban home. @hellabarnes.bsky.social ‘s description of “charismatic and strange” is perfect. Fascinating plants!I love them still. 🌿
This year’s coming Pollinator Week just got a little more diverse! 🌿
It’s the first time a frog—or any amphibian—has been observed pollinating a plant, researchers reported in 2023.
Learn more on #WorldWildlifeDay: https://scim.ag/4riUU1G
Learn more on #WorldWildlifeDay: https://scim.ag/4riUU1G
March 4, 2026 at 4:13 PM
This year’s coming Pollinator Week just got a little more diverse! 🌿
Reposted
I firmly believe that if we take the Bible seriously, we’ll be at the front of the line demanding climate action – and many Christians are!
But the fact that so many in the US base their beliefs on politics explains why identifying as an evangelical is the top predictor of climate denial in the US.
But the fact that so many in the US base their beliefs on politics explains why identifying as an evangelical is the top predictor of climate denial in the US.
How Fossil Fuel Money Made Climate Change Denial the Word of God
Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
www.jezebel.com
March 3, 2026 at 1:05 AM
I firmly believe that if we take the Bible seriously, we’ll be at the front of the line demanding climate action – and many Christians are!
But the fact that so many in the US base their beliefs on politics explains why identifying as an evangelical is the top predictor of climate denial in the US.
But the fact that so many in the US base their beliefs on politics explains why identifying as an evangelical is the top predictor of climate denial in the US.
Did I hear someone say #mammalmonday? 🌿
February 16, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Did I hear someone say #mammalmonday? 🌿
@brushwhisperer.bsky.social once again creating exquisite botanical art. It fills me with joy when I see these quiet celebrations.
Forest floor full of layered leaves.. .
Eastern Comma emerging . .
Along with early spring ephemerals. .
Life thrives together. .
In harmony. .
In interdependence. .
Watercolor in progress ©️Heeyoung Kim 2026
#botanicalart #naturalhistoryart #natureart
Eastern Comma emerging . .
Along with early spring ephemerals. .
Life thrives together. .
In harmony. .
In interdependence. .
Watercolor in progress ©️Heeyoung Kim 2026
#botanicalart #naturalhistoryart #natureart
February 15, 2026 at 7:10 PM
@brushwhisperer.bsky.social once again creating exquisite botanical art. It fills me with joy when I see these quiet celebrations.
Several wisdom traditions hold that the antidote to fear is love. I agree with Barry Lopez that it’s the antidote to many, perhaps all of the forces we feel so overwhelmed by in these heart-wrenching days. It’s always worth celebrating love against the odds.
At the center of every crisis, as the late Barry Lopez put it, is a failure to love. To move forward, to move upward, we must practice love for others, for the world, as if our lives depend on it. More from Lopez here: orionmagazine.org/article/love...
February 15, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Several wisdom traditions hold that the antidote to fear is love. I agree with Barry Lopez that it’s the antidote to many, perhaps all of the forces we feel so overwhelmed by in these heart-wrenching days. It’s always worth celebrating love against the odds.
I couldn’t love this more. I also love the idea that, watching this, we are joining one of the oldest and youngest of Earth’s terrestrial creations. These tiny, vibrant beings are the ancestors of the trees they carpet. And they remain, in so many ways, the parents of the forest they inhabit. 🌿
February 11, 2026 at 10:59 PM
I couldn’t love this more. I also love the idea that, watching this, we are joining one of the oldest and youngest of Earth’s terrestrial creations. These tiny, vibrant beings are the ancestors of the trees they carpet. And they remain, in so many ways, the parents of the forest they inhabit. 🌿
Important point from @jasondovemark.bsky.social about climate comms: “If the media won’t do its job, then we need to become environmental storytellers…sharing tales of the climate changes we are witnessing.”
And when they do their job, we can help keep their message alive. 🌿
tinyurl.com/ynms6hyv
And when they do their job, we can help keep their message alive. 🌿
tinyurl.com/ynms6hyv
A Time Capsule Reveals the Urgent Tone of Climate Journalism in the 2010s
What a 10-year-old time capsule reveals about the state of climate reporting.
tinyurl.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Important point from @jasondovemark.bsky.social about climate comms: “If the media won’t do its job, then we need to become environmental storytellers…sharing tales of the climate changes we are witnessing.”
And when they do their job, we can help keep their message alive. 🌿
tinyurl.com/ynms6hyv
And when they do their job, we can help keep their message alive. 🌿
tinyurl.com/ynms6hyv
Such an important point: “staying on stories long enough to shift understanding.” Something @katharinehayhoe.com emphasizes for climate communication. Click bait drama can’t make this kind of contribution to understanding our world. 🌿
Isabel Esterman, Mongabay’s Southeast Asia managing editor, says journalism’s impact is cumulative — built by staying on stories long enough to shift understanding, from Sumatran rhino numbers to contested land deals.
** Her interview is part of the 'Inside Mongabay' series.
** Her interview is part of the 'Inside Mongabay' series.
Inside Mongabay with Isabel Esterman and the long arc of environmental reporting
For Isabel Esterman, journalism’s influence is often cumulative. It comes from staying with a subject long enough for the evidence to become harder to ignore. “It’s not one story,” she tells…
news.mongabay.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Such an important point: “staying on stories long enough to shift understanding.” Something @katharinehayhoe.com emphasizes for climate communication. Click bait drama can’t make this kind of contribution to understanding our world. 🌿
Happy #Imbolc! And happy St. Brigid's Day. A day celebrating the first stirrings of spring and a deep, green feminine energy in the world. Everywhere in the northern hemisphere, no matter how deep the snow, buds are getting ready to unfurl.
#naturephotography #nature 🌿
#naturephotography #nature 🌿
February 1, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Happy #Imbolc! And happy St. Brigid's Day. A day celebrating the first stirrings of spring and a deep, green feminine energy in the world. Everywhere in the northern hemisphere, no matter how deep the snow, buds are getting ready to unfurl.
#naturephotography #nature 🌿
#naturephotography #nature 🌿
“Join with the Earth and each other, to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air, to renew the forests, to care for the plants, to protect the creatures, to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight, to sing the song of the stars…to renew our spirits…”
~ MLK ~
~ MLK ~
January 19, 2026 at 6:01 PM
“Join with the Earth and each other, to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air, to renew the forests, to care for the plants, to protect the creatures, to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight, to sing the song of the stars…to renew our spirits…”
~ MLK ~
~ MLK ~
Flower fragrances are meant for their pollinators, but, as @dghaskell.bsky.social says, “ we get to be eavesdroppers.” One of the joys of life and another way we are woven into the whole.
Flower aromas use beauty to interweave plants, insects, and humans. There's more than enough hard stuff in life, especially now, so let's accept the flowers' invitations when we can 💚💔 Wishing everyone a few moments of interconnected beauty this weekend, wherever you are. #breadandjusticeandroses
January 17, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Flower fragrances are meant for their pollinators, but, as @dghaskell.bsky.social says, “ we get to be eavesdroppers.” One of the joys of life and another way we are woven into the whole.